Car-coupling



A. G'. VOGT.

GAR GOUPLING.

a ted Deo. 27,1892.l

(No Model.)

W/ TNE SSE S.'

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. G. VOGT.

GAR GOUPLING.

, Patented Deia, 27, 1892.

A TTORNEYS.

UNiTnn STATES PATENT Ormes.

AUGUST G. VOGT, OF BOERNE, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO L. W.VMADARASZ ANDXVM. G. KINGSBURY, OF SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 488,857, dated December27, 1892.

Application tiled October 8, 1892. Serial No. 448,256. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AUGUST G. VOGT, residing at Boerne, in the county ofKendall and State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Oar-Couplings, of which the following is a specification.

Thisinvention is an improved car coupling seeking among otherimprovements to provide simple, easily operated devices by which thecars may automatically' couple, and be uncoupled, or the link beadjusted to properly enter a meeting drawhead Without requiring theoperator to go between the cars at any time and the invention consistsin the novel constructions and combinations of parts hereinafterdescribed and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings-Figure 1 is a perspective view,Fig. 2 a top plan View,parts being broken away, and Fig. 3 is a side view part in section of myimprovements, and Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are detail views.

The drawhead A has its drawbar B made hollow and open at its rear end sothe buffer spring C employed on the ordinary drawbars may be inserted insaid rear end and held between the keys D D passed through slots b inthe drawhead and into receiving slots in the draft beams of the carframe. This construction it willbe seen is simple, permits the use ofthe springs O and keys D D now used and allows the drawhead to yieldboth forward and back. If at any time the spring should be broken therear key can be removed anew spring inserted and the key be replaced ina few minutes.

The drawhead has the Haring link mortise in which the link holderoperates. This link holder is formed of two sections E E arranged onebelow the `other and slightly separated.

Near their rear ends the said sections are piv-l oted at e to thedrawhead and a spring E2 bearing between the rear extension e2 of saidsections operates to adjust said sections normally toward each other attheir front ends. Near their forward ends the sections E E have verticalcoincident openings E for the coupling pin.

An adjusting frame F is fitted over the sections E E and is arranged toslide vertically in the drawhead. This frame F operates to depress thelower and upper sections E E', the frame having two such end shouldersor surfaces f f to rest above and below the lower section E', the formerf also resting under the upper section so that the raising of the framewill lift both sections positively while the lowering of the frame willonly depress the lower section positively the upper section ordinarilyfollowing by gravity and the section of the spring. It will be seen thatthe sections have a certain independence of movement this beingdesirable because when adjusted to hold thelink they may be set up anddown together while when set to receive an entering link it is desirablethat they should be dared apart at their front ends. In securing thislast adjustment the lower section E may be depressed by the frameF,'while the upper section E may be raised by the means presentlydescribed. At its lower end the frame F has a rod F extending below thedrawhead and through a bracket F2 and receiving actuating springs FE'F4above and'below said bracket. At its upper end the frame has anextension F5 slotted at f5'for the passage of the operating lever G,which for convenience of reference I shall term the main lever todistinguish it from the lever H which may be termed the pin liftinglever. The main lever thus operates to adj ust the link lifting jaws.This lever Gis supported so it can rock and also move longitudinallybeing to such end pivoted on a bolt or stud I passed throughalongitudinal slot i in the lever. I also form the main lever at g witha lateral offsetbywhich it may when moved longitudinally be set into andout of positiop to engage the lateral offset h on the pin lifting lever.The lever H is pivotedy at J and is connected with the upper linkadjusting section E by a rod K pivoted to said section and passed upwardthrough an opening in a joint block K connected with the lever H andhaving above such joint piece a nut or other head la for engagement bythe leverH when the IOO pivoted at its upper end to the lever andpivotally connected at its opposite end with the lower end of the rod Mwhich has at its upper end a transverse arm connected with the couplingpin so that the movement of thelever may operate to raise and lower thepin. The arrangement of rods L and M is desirable because it enables thepin to be moved to the full extent of the swing of the lever and at thesame time permits the pivoting of the lever to the drawhead. A rod N mayconnect with the lever H and extend to the top of the car to enable theuncoupling of the cars from such point.

A latch O is pivoted at 0 to the drawhead to swing in the direction oflength thereof. This latch has a weight O at its lower end and a hook orshoulder O2 at its upper end and such hook or shoulder is arranged toengage the main lever G when the latter is adjusted longitudinally andmoved to swing the pin to uncoupled position so that the hook may holdthe main lever in position to secure the pin in uncoupled position. Whenthe drawheads meet the jar of the impact swings the latch and releasesthe lever G which permits the pin to fall and automatically couplethecars. To permit the said hook to catch, a part of the lever is cut outor notched at P forming a seat for the hook but the said lever is madeso wide at other points that the hook cannot engage it thus avoiding thelatching of the lever when it is used simply for adjusting the link.

A casing Q is provided upon the drawhead for in closing some of theoperating parts, such casing having a hinged lid q which may be raisedand lowered with the movements of the pin dac.

In operation if the link be in place the main lever may be adjustedclear of engagement with the lever I'I and then be operated to raise orlower the link to enter a meeting drawhead. If the approaching drawheadalso has a link in it, the link in the rst can be readily ejected bysetting the main lever to engage the lever G and then operating the sameto raise the coupling pin and spread the link lifter sections when thelink will drop out and the parts be left in position to receive theapproaching link. When so adjusted the main lever will be held by theswinginglatch until the drawheads meet when the jar will release thelatch and the levers and pin will adjust to coupled position. 'When thelink is ejected as before described it does not drop to the ground butlis caught by a link receiving hook R supported to swing below thedrawhead and projecting at its point beyond the same. This hook R iscarried by swinging links S dropped from the drawhead. It will be seenthat the pin is braced against both the drawhead and the sections of theholder so that there is no danger of bending even a lighter pin than iscommonly used.

In order that the link catcher may not be in the way when the cars arecoupled I proof the hook back from the end of the draw-` head or thelatter may be released to permit the hook to adjust forward intoposition to catch the link.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is l. In a carcoupling, the combination of the drawhead and the sectional link holdertherein, both the drawhead and the link holder having openings for thecoupling pin, and the openings in the link holder being closed at thefront, substantially as set forth.

2. In a car coupling, the combination of the drawhead having couplingpin openings, the link holder arranged in said drawhead and formed withupper and lower sections pivoted together near their rear ends to thedrawhead and provided near their front ends with pin openings closed attheir front sides and the spring arranged between the rear extended endsof said sections, substantially as set forth.

3. In a car coupling, the combination with the drawhead and the linkholder formed of pivoted sections of the operating devices whereby thesaid sections may be flared apart at their front ends, substantially asset forth.

4. In a car coupling the combination with the link holder composed ofupper andlower pivoted sections a vertically movable frame embracing andhaving portions engagiu g said sections, and devices by which the saidframe may be operated, substantially as set forth.

5. In a car coupling, the combination with the pivoted link holdingsections of independently movable devices whereby the lower section maybe depressed and the upper section elevated, substantially as set forth.

6. In a car coupling, the combination with the link holder formed ofupper and lower pivoted sections of the adjusting frame by which topositively raise both such sections and depress the lower one and a rodconnected with the upper section whereby to lift the same and devicesfor operating said frame and rod, substantially as and forthe purposesset forth.

7. In a car coupling, the combination of the pivoted link holdingsections the adjusting frame engaging said sections and the actuatingspring or springs by which to retain said frame andlink holding sectionsnormally in tllie desired position, substantially as set fort 1.

8. In a car coupling, the combination of the link holder, the verticallymovable frame embracing said holder and provided with a slot and theoperating lever passed through said slot, substantially as set forth.

IOO

IIO

IZO

9. In a car coupling, the combination of the link holding devices andindependently movable levers for operating the same and the couplingpin, one of the said levers being movable independently of its pivotalmovement into and out of position to engage the other` lever,substantially as set forth.

10. In a car coupling, the combination of the link holder, the lever foroperating the coupling pin, and the lever for operating the link holder,the latter being movable longitudinally whereby it may be set into andout of position to engage the pin operating lever, all substantially asset forth.

11. In a car coupling, the combination of the pin operating lever andthe lever for operating the link holder both such levers being providedwith lateral offsets and one of the levers being movable longitudinallywhereby it may be set into and out of engagement with the other,substantially as set forth.

12. In a car coupling, the combination with a transverse main operatinglever of a swing-- ing weighted latch arranged to lock said lever inposition, substantially as set forth.

13. In a car coupling, the combination of a latch and a main operatinglever havinga seat for engagement by said latch and movablelongitudinally whereby it may be set into and out of. position forengagement by the latch, substantially as set forth.

14. In a car coupling, the combination with the pin and its operatinglever of the rods L and M, pivotally united at their lower ends andconnected at their upper ends respectively with the lever and with thepin, all substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

15. In a car coupling, the combination of the drawhead, the link holderhaving an upf per pivoted section, the pin operating lever andconnections between said lever and the upper link holder section,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

16. In a car coupling, the combination of the pivoted link holdersections, the main lever and connections whereby said lever maypositively operate the lower link holding section, the pin operatinglever andconnections between the same and the upper link holdingsection, substantially as described, whereby the main lever may operatetondepress the lower link holder section and the other lever may operateto elevate the upper link holder section, substantially as set forth.

17. In a car coupling, the combination of a link holder having upper andlower sections,

a pair of levers and connections between said levers and sectionswhereby the joint operav tion of the levers may'serve to flare thesections, substantially as set forth.

18. The combination substantially as described of the drawhead, the linkholder sections, the adjusting frame embracing said sections the pinoperating lever arranged to operate the upper section, and the mainlever arranged to operate the adjusting frame and movable longitudinallyinto and out of position to engage the pin operating lever substantiallyas set forth.

19. In a car coupler a drawhead provided with a link catcher comprisinga rod or bar arranged to project at its frontend normally in advance ofthe end of the drawhead and supported to swing below the drawhead,substantially as set forth.

AUGUST G. VOGT.

Witnesses:

P. B. TURPIN, SoLoN C. KEMON.

